Indiana defensive coordinator Bryant Haines felt a bit slighted by some comments Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson made about their matchup in the College Football Playoff.
Simpson said in a recent appearance on the “Down 2 Business” podcast that nothing about Indiana’s defense had surprised him during the Hoosiers’ 38-3 win in January’s CFP Quarterfinal. Simpson suggested Indiana’s defense had not done anything to surprise his team, but simply executed their plan better.
“From my point of view, they don’t do much. They do the same thing every down,” Simpson said. “When I got the ball, I knew exactly what was going to happen. They just didn’t mess up. They were in the exact same spot they were supposed to be. They were so well-coached.”
Simpson’s comments may have been meant as a compliment, but Haines did not take it as such. On X, he dismissed Simpson’s remarks as “adorable.”
“We also, saw everything they were doing, on every single snap… It’s just that we exploited those cues. And didn’t get frozen and crushed by them,” Haines wrote.
Adorable. We also, saw everything they were doing, on every single snap… It’s just that we exploited those cues. And didn’t get frozen and crushed by them. pic.twitter.com/L3zjXB3c3I
— Bryant Haines (@Coach_BHaines) April 18, 2026
When some fans criticized Haines’ comments and suggested he should take them as a compliment, he doubled down.
“That’s all it took to break your entire fanbase?” Haines wrote, referring to Crimson Tide fans. “Wow.. maybe I should’ve just said “Boo”. No apologies, no compliments. Grow up folks. He had a bad take and I said the painful truth. Bounce back better.”
That’s all it took to break your entire fanbase? Wow.. maybe I should’ve just said “Boo”. No apologies, no compliments. Grow up folks. He had a bad take and I said the painful truth. Bounce back better. #GoIU #NoCompliments
— Bryant Haines (@Coach_BHaines) April 19, 2026
Whatever Simpson’s comments were intended to convey, Haines appears eager to use them as fuel. That is, in a certain sense, very much the Curt Cignetti way.
Simpson, meanwhile, is likely to be a first-round pick in the NFL Draft. He doesn’t really have to concern himself with what Haines thinks at this point.
